THE WEDDELL CUP.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXX, Issue 5454, 29 July 1929, Page 3

THE WEDDELL CUP.

PRESENTATION AT NGATEA. EVENT CELEBRATED. The triumph of the suppliers and staff of the N.Z. Co-operative Dairy Company’s Hauraki Plains butter factory at Ngatea in winning the Weddell Cup for the second time in three years was celebrated last Thursday evening. Dozens were unable to gain admittance to the Ngatea Public Hall, so great was the attendance. The winning of this blue riobm of t.'.e bi tter world was worthy of celebration, for in competition with all factories in the province from the smallest the Ngatea factory, with over 1170 tons of butter sent to the grading store during the seven months from October, 1928, to April, 1929, secured an average grade of 94.412 points, the highest grade that has ever won the trophy in the 25 years it has been in competition. The function, which was organised by a local committee under the chairmanship of Mr J. Darlington, and arranged by Mr J. W. Neate, took the form of a concert, followed by the presentation of trophies. Supper was then served and the floor cleared for dancing. A standard had been set which would be exceedingly difficult for any factory in New Zealand to follow, particularly a factory the size of Ngatea, said Mr Dynes Fulton, chairman of directors, who recalled that the records of Hauraki Plains showed that the suppliers and the factory staff had always been keen to do their utmost to maintain the highest quality. The cup had been won in the 1926-27 season, it had almost been won in the following year, and now'it had been won for the second time. Mr Fulten expressed his thanks at being invited to join the people of the district and the factory staff in celebrating their wonderful achievement. On behalf of the company he brought them hearty thanks for what they had done. The. managing-direc-tor of the company, Mr W. Goodfellow, had asked to be excused for nonattendance on account of urgent business elsewhere. He had been responsible for the introduction of the system Degrading cream into New Zealand. On his recommendation the N.Z. Coonerative Dairy Co. had started grading, and the rest of the dairy industry had followed. The farmers of New Zealand would not want to revert to the old haphazard methods of the past. It was due to the grading system that New Zealand now occupied' the position it did in the dairy industry of the world. '■ The Davies Cup. An important duty he had to perform, said Mr Fulton, was to present the Davies Cup to the district which had delivered the greatest percentage of superfine cream to the factory during the past season, and before calling on Mr A. Whiteman, convener of the Patetpnga North district committee, to receive the cup he desired to thank the donor, Mr R. L. Davies, of Kerepeehi, and congratulate him on his fine idea for fostering competitipn on those lines. It was one which could very well be adopted in other districts. The Patetonga North cartage district had won the Davies Cup for the secod time, though this year its percentage of snperfine cream, while very creditable -indeed, was slightly lower than in the previous year. It had sent forward 52,4911 b of cream, of which 50,856Hb, or 96,88 per cent., was graded superfine. The Patetonga tramline cartage district was the run-ner-up, having supplied 23,6711 b of cream, of which 22,2901 b, or 94.18 per cent.,, was superfine. The Orchard East Road cartage district was third on the list, having sent in 88 44411 b of cream, of which 82.7361 b, or 93.61 per cent., was graded superfine. These figures reflected great credit on the districts, and he had no doubt that the competition for the Davies Cup had been very largely responsible. In replying Mr A. Whiteman mentioned that some of the factors having a bearing on the winning of the cup by the Patetonga North district were that every farmer was an original settler who had been there over 15 years ; that every one of them supervised the work in his shed himself, and that all the farms were part swamp and part hill country. Geeral Manager’s Comments. Mr C. J. Parlane, general manager of the company, expressed his pleasure at being able td be present on this ' happy occasion. He was glad of the opportunity of speaking to the wives and families of suppliers on the policy of the company, particularly as it was due to the policy of the company in inaugurating the grading system that the Ngatea factory had been so successful. In 1921 the average grade of butter exported was 89-90 per cent., but at that time the market was short supplied, so there was a demand. The company had that should the demand fall off, only the best quality butter would be sought after by buyers. In the first three years of grading the average had increased to 92 per cent., and while this rate of increase had not been maintained, it had been responsible for maintaining the company’s butter in the first class. The only way of making dairying profitable was by keeping the product in the first class. During the past year the average grade of the Ngatea factory was higher than any which had previously won the cup, being 94.412 points. It was a remarkable achievement, and the suppliers were to be heartily congratulated. The winning of the Weddell Cup was not an isolated victory, for \the Ngatea factory had won nuinerous trophies at shows every seaSbn. A replica of the Weddell Cup, itself 4>eing too bulky and too valuable a trophy to be carried about the country, was then' presented to Mr C. S. Foster, manager - of the factory, and he was asked to accept it with the hearty congratulations of the whole cif the members of the company. Mr Foster was greeted with rounds of applause and the singing of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow” when he

rose 'to reply. He said that he was proud of Ngatea’s success, and hoped to be able to win the cup again. He felt that it could be done if all suppliers assisted. He particularly wanted to win the cup in the next two years, as then it would be won outright. It would not be so very difficult, for it had been won in 1926-27, and in the 1927-28 season the Ngatea factory was leading up to the last two weeks of the competition. By losing points in the last fortnight in April, 1928, the winning outright of the cup had been postponed for at least another two years. The Concert. The concert arranged by Mr Neate was ar interesting and varied one, despite the fact that seven of the artists engaged in Paeroa, Waihi, and Thames were prevented by illness from performing. Mr L. Mcllvride, of Thames, opened with a fine rendering of “The Trumpeter,” and when recalled gave “Macushla.” Miss A. Paul, Ngatea, gave two fine renderings and was followed by elocutionary items by the Rev. E. R. Alexander, Ngatea. Mr L. White, the well-known Thames whistler, delighted with his imitations of birds and his whistling solos, and was followed by a violin solo by Miss Tizard, of Kaihere. Miss N. Deeble, Thames, who during the evening played most of the accompaniments, delighted with two songs, and the first part of the programme. concluded with community singing under the leadership of Mr Neate. The Misses Newsham and Bertelsen opened the second part with a pianoforte duet, and Mr Neate had the audience join him in singing the choruses of his two songs. Mr L. White gave some more whistling solos, and two elocutionary numbers were contributed by Mr J. Thompson, of Thames. Violin solos by Mr W. Reid, of Te Aroha, were followed by a humorous number by Mr W. J. Scrimgeour, Thames, who gave an imitation of the opening of a broadcasting station named “D.E.A.D., Thames,” in which he introduced many skits on local people. The music for the dance was contributed by the Ngatea orchestra.